Words
by fringeperson
Summary: Three-shot songfic. Do NOT own anything. Thought they fit well. Time after time if felt like they only ever answered 'perhaps', but to all around them, it was clear that love was in the air... well, kind of clear. Fortunately, they figured it out.
1. Chapter 1

_Lying in my bed I hear the clock tick,  
and think of you _  
_caught up in circles confusion-  
is nothing new _

_Flashback-warm nights-  
almost left behind _  
_suitcases of memories,  
time after- _

Sarah was awake. It was late, and exactly a year from the night when she had wished Toby away to the Labyrinth, the Underground, and _him_. The clock in the hallway chimed the hour softly – midnight. She wanted to hear it chime thirteen to mark the occasion, but that clock wasn't _his_ clock.

She always thought of him now when the clock struck twelve or one, wishing that instead it would chime thirteen. He had reordered time for her once, but it hadn't lasted. Some part of her had known that it wouldn't and accepted it. Another part of her wished that there had been a way for her to have her dreams _and_ Toby back in his crib.

She had run and re-run the Labyrinth several times in her dreams, visited the Escher room even more times than that, and confronted _him_ in her mind over and over. Sometimes she dreamt of _him_ when she was awake as well – particularly all the things that they had both said.

Nothing could change what had been said. _He_ had told her that before it all began.

"_What's said is said."_

Still, sometimes she wished that she could take it back, just to see what might have happened.

The only thing she dreamed of more often than all the times they had spoken was that one time when she had been in his arms, and neither of them had said anything.

_He_ had danced with her, and she could remember perfectly how sad _he_ looked, as if _he_ had already known that she would leave _him_ in the crystal dream.

She'd joined the local dance school because of how often she had that dream, but none of the people she danced with measure up to _him_.

_sometimes you picture me-  
I'm walking too far ahead _

_you're calling to me, I can't hear  
what you've said- _  
_Then you say-go slow-  
I fall behind-  
the second hand unwinds _

Sarah wondered if _he_ was awake right now, watching her or thinking about her. She still talked to Hoggle, Sir Diddymus and Ludo, and Hoggle sometimes admitted to her that _he_ spent most of _his_ days in _his_ throne room. None of the goblins were allowed to go in there any more, except for the one that brought _him his_ meals.

Sarah closed her eyes and imagined that _he_ was sitting across _his_ throne, staring into one of _his_ crystals, watching her as she was lost in her own daydreams about _his_ world.

Sarah had never tried calling _him_ to her mirror. She didn't even let _his_ name drift through her thoughts if she could help it. She certainly never let it cross her lips. _His_ name was sacred,

powerful, and she felt sure that _he_ would hear her if she so much as whispered _his_ name in her sleep.

She didn't know that she did, almost every night. She didn't know that _he_ came to her windowsill every single time, that _he_ sat there until the grey time just before dawn before turning from her and flying away back to the Underground.

It was a winter morning when Sarah finally caught _him_ before _he_ left. The sun rose later in winter, and normally she did her best to sleep in as well, but that morning she had to be at school early to help set up for the play they were performing. Her alarm clock, kept under her pillow so that she would both hear and feel it when it started ringing, forced her mind into a fuzzy awareness while it was still dark beyond her window.

That fuzzy awareness rapidly became crystal clarity when her green eyes caught sight of black gloves, white poet's shirt and a halo of golden hair.

Just as her eyes locked on _his_, _he_ disappeared out the window. Sarah could just make out _his_ shape as _he_ flew away on silent wings.

_if you're lost you can look-and you will find me  
time after time _  
_if you fall I will catch you-I'll be waiting  
time after time _

Sarah took up art classes not long after what she had decided to call the 'too early in the morning' incident. This meant that, with her dancing every Thursday and Friday night, and her art every Monday and Tuesday afternoon, she was able to effectively dodge all offers to date from the boys in her class who were starting to really get the idea that girls were not only attractive, but could also be interesting enough to spend more time with than just making out.

She babysat Toby every Saturday still, and didn't complain any more. She knew she couldn't ever go out with a boy after she had danced with _him_. It was hard enough dancing with the other people in her dancing class. They almost all had wandering or sweaty hands. Not like _him_.

In her art classes, she mostly worked in charcoal and coloured chalks. They were soft, and the colours, and the way that she could use those colours, felt the best for the pictures she wanted to make. Pictures of the Labyrinth. Pictures of Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Diddymus and Ambroscious, of the fairy that had bit her, of the fiery creatures who had tried to take her head off, of the 'helping hands' and the confused door-guards, the worm who had been so helpful when she was becoming frustrated with the complete lack of turns in the Labyrinth. Pictures of the goblin city and the castle beyond, of the strange room that had looked like Escher's room of stairs. She had reached for the oil paints when she wanted to do a picture of the Bog of Eternal stench though. It needed that more slimy look that couldn't be achieved with the coloured chalks.

_after my picture fades and darkness has  
turned to grey  
watching through windows-you're wondering  
if I'm OK _  
_secrets stolen from deep inside  
the drum beats out of time- _

Sarah never did a picture of _him_ though, for the same reason she avoided _his_ name. She was determined that her heart didn't want to see _him_, but every time she denied herself, she hurt more inside. The closest that she had ever come was to draw the ballroom, filled with its masked dancers, and herself dancing in the middle of them all, with _him_ of course, but _he_ was wearing a mask as well.

The woman in charge of the art class had remarked that it was the first picture that Sarah had put herself into, and it was particularly interesting that she was in the arms of a figure of her imagined world – or was it really someone she was secretly fond of?

No, Sarah had answered at the time. How could she be fond of someone if she didn't know them? Besides, the girl in the picture only _looked_ like her, clearly the girl in the large white dress was younger. Sarah had lost a couple of inches around her waist, and gained them around her bust, in the last year or so, but she saw no reason at all to tell the woman the truth. She wouldn't be believed anyway.

When Sarah got home that night, and after she had put the picture up on the wall, she had gone to her window to look out at the tree just beyond, wondering if that had been enough to call to him, to let him see into her life again during her waking hours as he seemed to when she was sleeping.

She had not forgotten that single time she had woken early and seen him disappear out her window.

_if you're lost you can look-and you will find me  
time after time  
if you fall I will catch you-I'll be waiting  
time after time_

Sarah lay awake on her bed, listening to the clock chime midnight. It was two years now since she had been to the Underground, a little over eight months since seeing _him_ disappear out her window that winter's morning. Again she thought that it would be better to hear the clock strike thirteen, but she could not draw her mind from the words she had spoken when she had left the Underground, _his_ kingdom, behind.

"_For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great. You have no power over me."_

This night, as she waited for the thirteenth chime that would not come, Sarah wondered for the first time if her words meant rather that _he_ was weak-willed, that _his_ kingdom was as insubstantial as a thought, and that perhaps... she had no power over _him_ either, except what _he_ allowed her to have.

It was a new thought, but one that would not have surprised her. She had spent a lot of time in her own company over the past two years, apart from the time she spent in the company of Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Diddymus.

Her whole life, at least currently, was still being affected by her time in the Labyrinth. She didn't care though, and honestly would not have changed anything of that night even if she could. Well, maybe one thing. Sarah had wanted to accept the crystal from _him_, very much. If only there had been a way to save Toby and accept _his_ offer.

_you said go slow-  
I fall behind  
the second hand unwinds-_

It was Sir Diddymus who conveyed the message to Sarah that _he_ had taken ill, and that _his_ subjects – the more intelligent ones anyway – suspected it to be a matter of strong emotions rather than a disease. It had been getting worse for months, but Hoggle, Sarah's usual visitor, had been very stubborn about refusing to tell her. Ludo wasn't one for words really, and was always too busy being happy to see Sarah to remember to tell her about _him_.

Sarah had finished Sir Diddymus' portrait and given it to him before thanking him for his company and bidding him farewell – he had to feed Ambrocsious after all.

Alone, Sarah finally let those forbidden syllables slip past her lips. She needed to see for herself, needed reassurance that Sir Diddymus might be wrong this time as he was about the smell of the Bog of Eternal Stench. She didn't know what would happen after, she only knew that, for the first time in so long, she was willing to admit that she wanted to see _him_.

"Jareth," she whispered.

"Sarah," _he_ answered, appearing in her window.

Her green eyes widened slightly in surprise. _He_ looked exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes and even thinner than he had been when she had last seen him.

_if you're lost you can look-and you will find me  
time after time  
if you fall I will catch you-I'll be waiting  
time after time_  
_...time after time  
time after time  
__time after time  
time after time_

"You look terrible," Sarah observed.

"And you look beautiful."

"Thank you. Sir Diddymus said you were ill."

"Lovesick, Sarah, and tormented these past years. I have noticed that you became an artist. Your pictures are very good."

"Thank you. Hoggle told me you had banished everyone from your throne room."

"I couldn't bare company."

"I see."

"Sarah, will you come away with me? Forget this world and just come away?" _he_ begged, taking one of her hands gently between his gloved fingers and pulling it closer to his heart.

"For my will is as weak as yours, and my kingdom as frail," she answered, laying her free hand over the top and taking that last step so that there were barely inches between their bodies.


	2. Chapter 2

_You won't admit you love me  
And so how am I ever to know?  
You always tell me  
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps_

_She_ had shattered his kingdom, refused him, rebuffed him, come the end she had even ignored him completely! He could not bare it, would not stand for it! He raged.

Then, just three nights after _she_ had left the Underground, _she_ had the audacity to call his name!

He went, if only to grant her his disgust at _her_ callousness, only to find _her_ asleep, a smile on _her_ face. He had been named as _she_ dreamt. He sat by _her_ window and watched _her_ that night. He would leave in the morning. It was far too soon, he knew. Their encounter still to raw for them to face each other and be kind.

It comforted him though that in dreams at least, _she_ did not think so little of him.

_A million times I've asked you,  
And then I ask you over again  
You only answer  
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps_

It happened almost every night after that. _She_ would call his name in _her_ sleep, and he always went. Sleep suited _her_, its mists seemed to shroud _her_ in contentment and peace, and there was always a smile on _her_ beautiful face whenever he came to _her_ window. He never invaded _her_ dreams though.

He watched _her_ every day as well. In his crystal. He burned with envy at the boys who held _her_ when _she_ went to that dancing class. It was little comfort to him that there was never that look of wonder on _her_ face when _she_ danced with them as when he had held _her_.

_If you can't make your mind up  
We'll never get started  
And I don't wanna wind up  
Being parted, broken-hearted_

The art classes came next. He watched as his Labyrinth was made more real, and given more power because of its greater reality, all thanks to _her_ drawings. Still, he felt weak and sad. He was never the subject of _her_ art. _Her_ three friends, various other Labyrinthine minions, even the walls, plants, and the Bog of Eternal Stench were given substance on _her_ easel. But never him.

He wondered, as he watched the days go by, if _she_ ever thought of him during the daylight hours, and if those thoughts, if they existed at all, were fondly inclined.

He held his breath as he watched the ballroom fade into existence in coloured chalks, as he finally took form in one of _her_ pictures. It was not to be though. A masked face took the place of his, and _she_ denied even knowing the one _she_ had just drawn.

His heart, what little there was left of that small, cold, stone-like organ, split and splintered. How could _she_ say that? How could _she_ claim to not know him? Or was it really true? Had his attentions really not communicated to _her_ who he was?

Yet at night, _she_ continued to call his name, and he continued to go to _her_.

He didn't care if it was all he had, and he didn't care if he became wan and exhausted. Seeing _her_ and being part of _her_ life, even if only when _she_ slept, that was enough. It became all that mattered to him.

_So if you really love me  
Say yes, but if you don't dear, confess  
And please don't tell me  
__Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps  
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps_

Then came the day when _she_ called his name, deliberately and with full knowledge of what she was attempting to achieve.

He went, and his dead heart ached to live under _her_ touch. His eyes burned to cry in shame when _she_ noticed how wretched he was as he appeared before _her_. But _she_ was kind, even if _her_ eyes could be so cruel, he was about to discover that _she_ had a capability far greater and more benevolent than mere cruelty.


	3. Chapter 3

_Love is in the air  
Everywhere I look around  
Love is in the air  
Every sight and every sound _

_And I don't know if I'm being foolish  
Don't know if I'm being wise  
But it's something that I must believe in  
And it's there when I look in your eyes _

"Sarah, will you come away with me? Forget this world and just come away?"

"For my will is as weak as yours, and my kingdom as frail."

"Sarah. Do you understand what I am asking you? Do you truly understand this time?"

She cupped his cheek, his thin, hollow cheek, gently in the palm of her hand, as if worried that to touch him would be to break him, or to find him insubstantial and not really there. It was without hesitation that he lay his own hand over hers and leant into her warm, soft touch, and he couldn't help the contented sigh that shuddered past his lips at the long-desired contact.

"Yes Jareth," she answered, looking up into his eyes. "I understand this time."

"There can be no going back."

"I've had two years of denial and being sensible Jareth. It may be foolish, but it also might be the most sensible thing I'll ever do," she told him.

_Love is in the air  
In the whisper of the trees  
Love is in the air  
In the thunder of the sea _

_And I don't know if I'm just dreaming  
Don't know if I feel sane  
But it's something that I must believe in  
And it's there when you call out my name _

Jareth's whole body shuddered as he wrapped his arms around Sarah's waist and pulled her flush against him. Beyond her window, a storm kicked up. It was the same storm that had come that night, the night she had wished Toby away to the Underground, the Labyrinth, to the castle beyond the goblin city. To _him_. This time, the storm raged and roared so that Sarah herself could be stolen away.

Except that she would leave willingly on the arm of her king. No one would run the Labyrinth to get her back. No one would remember her when the storm had passed.

She didn't have to worry about being turned into a goblin either.

_Love is in the air  
Love is in the air  
Oh oh oh  
Oh oh oh _

_Love is in the air  
In the rising of the sun  
Love is in the air  
When the day is nearly done _

_And I don't know if you're an illusion  
Don't know if I see it true  
But you're something that I must believe in  
And you're there when I reach out for you _

Jareth and Sarah stood together in his throne room as the very first light of dawn speared the sky over the Labyrinth and began to illuminate the Underground. Sir Diddymus was waiting for them at the door astride of Ambrocsious, Ludo behind him, and Hoggle sulking to his left.

"Summon every creature of the Labyrinth to the gates of the goblin city," Jareth ordered softly. "I have an announcement to make."

The friends looked to Sarah, who smiled at them, and with silent nods left to do as they had been bid. It took a few hours, but eventually everyone and everything that could be gathered was.

Jareth had used that time to sleep, exhausted as he was, while Sarah brushed his hair and massaged his back while he slept. When Sir Diddymus returned to inform them that his Majesty's orders had been carried out, Jareth woke and, with a small expenditure of magic, made both himself and Sarah presentable – that is, he bedecked himself in the same white clothing he had worn when he lost to Sarah those two years ago, and Sarah was clothed once again in her ball gown.

_Love is in the air  
Every sight and every sound  
And I don't know if I'm being foolish  
Don't know if I'm being wise _

_But it's something that I must believe in  
And it's there when I look in your eyes _

Together, Jareth and Sarah stood on a raised dais before the inhabitants of the Labyrinth, her hand pressed to his chest, and his arm around her waist.

"For the first time in five centuries," Jareth said solemnly, "the Labyrinth shall be ruled not only by the Goblin King, but also by a queen. I present Sarah."

A great cheer went up, and it wasn't long before the first detached head went up as well, and the music started.

Jareth turned to Sarah and looked her in the eye silently, then bent his head and kissed her. Sarah raised a hand to pull him closer, and when they parted, they smiled once before descending the stairs and joining the greatest celebration the Labyrinth had seen in five centuries.

"I love you Sarah," Jareth said as they danced.

"I love you too Jareth," she answered, holding back her tears of joy as she spoke.

_Love is in the air_


End file.
